Revolving book support and holder.



No. 633,965. Patented s t. 26, I899.

- J. n. PuBuuE;

REVOLVING BOOK SUPPORT AND HOLDER [Application filed Aug. 3, 1899.!

(Ila Nodal.)

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UNIT STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

JOHN H. PURDUE, or HIGHLAND, KANSAS.

REVOLVING BOOKSUPPORT .AND HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 633,965, dated September 26, 1899.

Application filed August 8, 1899. Serial No. 726 ,058. (No model.)

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. PURDUE, aciti zen of theUnited States, residing at Richland, in the county of Shawnee and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements iuRevolving Book Supports and Holders; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full,clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to'which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has relation to improvements in revolving book supports and holders; and the object is to provide a horizontally-rota tive series of shelves, cases, or boxesupon which a single book or several books may be laid and supported so that they may be examined as desired and then moved so as'to bring another shelf into use.

Another object is to provide such a device with an automatic brake to hold the rotative elements with the shelves in any desired po sition, said brake being so arranged and combined as to readily and conveniently be operated to release it when desired and the revoluble elements turned to suit the convenience 'of the student.

I have fully and clearly illustrated theinvention in the accompanying drawings,

wherein-- Figure '1 is an end view in elevation, showin g the pivotally-supported book-shelves, the construction'of the revoluble elements, and

the brake. Fig. 2 is a front view of the device in elevation. Fig. 3 is a sectional dc tail view of one of the shelf-supports and means forholding the same in adjusted po-' sition. I I box or casing for holding books. Fig. 5 isa modifieddetail viewof shelf-supporting arms.

Referring to the drawings, AAdesignate duplicate vertical supports or standards arranged in alinement with each other and at such distance apart and made of such height as may suit them to the purposes required. The lower ends of the vertical supports are connected by a cross-bar 1 and braced by suitable brace-rods 2 2, substantially as seen in the drawings.

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view of aduplicate spiders B B, from which are pivotally swung or suspended the book shelves or cases. It is apparent that these spiders may be substituted by disks or wheels and the shelves suspended at radial and determined intervals between them; but to save material and to make a more sightly and ornamental construction I prefer the construction illustrated in the drawings, which construction consists of a suitable central disk or hub 4, from which proj ect a pl u rality of radial arms 5, having their ends overhanging or bent or directedover and down, as at 6, and formed with bearings 7 adapted to receive and hold pivot pins or bolts 8, to which the shelf-supporting brackets C are secured.

The shelf-supporting brackets C consist of a bar bent at an angle in [r shape, as shown, the outer arm act which is made longer than the other arm I) and is formed with a suitable slotl), through which a clamping screw or pin 10 passes and is projected into the end of the shelf near the rear edge thereof,as indicated in Fig. 3 of the drawings, and whereby the shelf may be adj usted to any desired incline within the length of the slot, The shelf-supporting brackets C are pivotally mounted on the bolts or pivots S to swing freely thereon, and the arm I) is pivotally secured to theend of the shelf 1l,so that the shelf or case may be turned thereon to any desired angle, While the arm a, is arranged with its slot on the clampingpin 10, and, as stated, is adjustable thereon and in relation to the shelf. Instead of making the arms of the A-shaped shelf-supports integral they may be made separate and their upper ends mounted on the pivotal supports, asindicated in Fig. 5 of the drawings. The shelves 11 are for use in handling and examining books and are made flat,and along the outer edge have formed thereon or secured thereto a strip or cleat, 12, which extends above the surface of the shelf to prevent the book or books; from slipping off when the shelf is arranged at aninoline. I

In ordinary use of shelves horizontally ar ranged and revoluble about a horizontal axis it is-readily perceived that they would be unevenly weighted,and hencethe one carrying lOQ at the lowest point of the cycle, and unless some means were provided for braking and holding the frame with any one of the shelves at a desired point in the cycle the machine would be practically useless for the purposes of examining books. To avoid this difljculty and to provide means whereby the revolving elements may be held at any desired point to bring the shelf with the book wanted in convenient location and to prevent the revoluble elements from turning unless desired or required,l have devised the following-described means or mechanism: On the extended end 3 of the shaft 3 is mounted a grooved pulley 13, about which is arranged a brake-strap 14:, and to the standard A is fulcrumed a brakelever 15, formed With two arms or forks 16 16, having their respective ends connected to the end of the brake-strap 14, as indicated in the drawings, the connection being so madeand the arms so arranged that when the brake-leveris moved to carry the arms downward the movement will cause the brake-strap to clamp the wheel or pulley and hold it against turning. To effect this, a treadle and holding spring 17 is suitably mounted at the base of the standard A, formed by being bent down upon itself and disposed so as to exert an upward force or movement automatically, and the upper leaf or arm of the spring being extended outward, as at 17 for convenient operation by the foot, and to the end of the brake-lever is hung a rod 18, having its lower end screw-threaded and passed through the treadle-spring 1'7 and adjustably heldlherein by means of upper and lower adjusting-nuts 19 19 It will thus be perceived that under normal conditions the brake is always on and the revoluble elements locked or held against rotation; but by downward pressure on the spring-treadle the brake-lever arms are moved upward and the tension of the brake strap or cord released or lessened, so that the revolu ble elements with the shelves may be turned, as desired, and then when the desired point is reached all that is necessary is to remove the pressure from the spring-treadle, which then automatically applies the brake, and the device is locked against further rotation.

In Fig. 4 of the drawings is illustrated a book-tray 0, consisting of a box or case having surrounding vertical sides, forming a tray or box suitable for depositing and arranging books in in the usual manner side by side.

In the use of myimproved book-holder the examiner or student arranges the books to be examined open on the shelves and turns the spiders until he brings the first of the series to the desired position. Then when it is es sential to examine another book the treadle is pressed down and the brake released sufficiently to permit the spiders to be turned by manipulation when pressure on the brakctreadlc is removed, and the brake thus applied and the device held in position to which turned.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In abook-holder, the combination of ver tical supporting-standards, a shaft journaled in the upper ends of said standards, revoluble shelf-supports secured to the shaft, shelfsnpporting hangers pivotally secured to said revoluble elements, shelves pivotally secured to the shelf-supporting hangers, a grooved pulley mounted on the shaft, a brake-band about the grooved'pulley, a forked lever having its forked arms connected to the ends of the brake-band, and a spring-treadle to operate the lever and automatically hold the brake on, substantially as described.

2. In a book-holder, the combination of vertical supporting-standards, a shaftjournaled in the upper ends of said standards, spiderwheels mounted on said shaft having radial arms formed with overhanging ends, lt-shaped hangers pivot-ally secured to the overhanging ends of said arms having one arm longer than the other and formed with a slot, shelves pivotally supported by the shorter arm of the /\-shaped hangers, a clamping-bolt projected into the shelf through the slot of said longer arm of the hangers, a pulley on the said shaft, a brake-band aboutthe pulley, a forked lever fulcrumed on one of the standards-and having its fork-arms secured to the brake-hand, a springtreadle, mounted at the base of the standard, having an upward tension, and a connecting-rod having one end connected to the said brake-lever and the other end connected to the spring-treadle, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a supporting frame, a rotatable shaft therein, and a horizontally-revoluble book-holder on the shaft to turn therewith, of a grooved pulley fixed on the shaft, a brake-band on the grooved pulley, aforked lever fulcrumed on the frame and having its forked arms connected to the ends of the brake-band, a spring treadle mounted at the base of the frame, having an upward force, and an adjustable connectingrod having one end connected to the said 1ever and the other end connected to the springtreadle, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN H. PURDUE.

Witnesses:

W. SEYBoLD, JOHN W. CARY. 

